Traditionally, a football referee may use several tools to manage a football match. For example, a coin to toss deciding the team initially in possession of the ball, red and yellow cards to indicate penalties and warnings, and watches to keep track of the game time and the accumulation of stoppage time. During the match the referee may also use a writing instrument and paper to record information such as the time of a goal and the scoring team, player substitutions, writing yellow and/or red penalty cards, and other information. After a match, the referee has generally manually compiled information about the match so it may be recorded, for example, by team officials, league officials, and reported in the press. Such a compilation process may be time consuming, and may include inaccuracies as the referee attempts to reconstruct the events of the match after the fact.
In addition, many observers of football matches often independently record their own observations during a football match, and then may afterward reconcile their observations with the official record. Football fans unable to attend a match may be eager to keep abreast of a match while it is in progress, without having to wait for a reporter to post his observations.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry to address the above-mentioned shortcomings.